A/N: Hi guys! New story taking place at the end of season 4 when Niles is having his heart attack. I've written half of the story already so I'll be posting chapters regularly. Leave me some reviews and let me know what you think.

Wake-Up Call

Prologue:

The rhythmic bumping of the ambulance as it sped along the crowded street had a surprisingly soothing effect on her. It was so calming, in fact, that she barely registered how her body was gently jolted against the side of the vehicle several times. The ambulance was packed but she had insisted on squeezing into the back along with the two paramedics and of course the lifeless body of the Sheffield's butler that was now lying on a stretcher to her right. Despite her insistence that he couldn't be left alone she couldn't bring herself to look at him either. Luckily the ride was short-lived as they reached Lenox Hill Hospital in less than five minutes.

Pushing herself into a corner of the ambulance she watched as the paramedics lifted the stretcher outside and started wheeling him into the hospital and somehow she managed to stumble after them. The noise of the A&E hit her senses with painful intensity. She winced and closed her eyes for only a second but when she opened them again Niles had been swallowed by the crowd. Panicked, C.C. glanced around but failed to locate him. Finally, she spotted the paramedics that had brought him here and the words "acute cardiac care unit" floated over to her through the mist that seemed to surround her brain.

Determined not to lose focus again she looked up, scanning each sign that described the way to a different unit as fast as she could – too fast, as it turned out – because all the letters began to blur in front of her eyes. In the end she got hold of a passing nurse.

"Acute Cardiac Care Unit," she repeated in a voice that sounded much too hoarse to be her own.

"This way," the woman responded and pointed to her right "but I'm afraid you can't go in there."

C.C. nodded but continued walking nonetheless. She only stopped when she reached a thick double door that barred her way. There, she chanced a feeble glance through the windows but when she couldn't spot Niles she just sank defeated onto one of the chairs nearby.

They had been teasing each other when it had happened. She had been more provocative than usual hoping to gain some sort of reaction from the butler who had been strangely quiet for several weeks.

"I'm not feeling well." was how it had started.

Then panic had broken loose. The memories appeared in front of her eyes in a series of snapshots. Niles grasping at his chest. Niles' eyes, wide and terrified. Finally his body had simply folded into itself.

Her vision was beginning to swim and she only noticed the doctor when he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Who are you looking for, Ma'am?"

Sara, Sara Sheffield.She shook her head to chase those memories away.

"Niles Brightmore," she still sounded hoarse "he was admitted just a few minutes ago."

"Are you his wife?"

"No, I'm his..." the unfinished sentence hung in the air for a moment.

"We've made sure that he's stable and carried out an ECG. The blood supply to his heart is restricted but we cannot say yet if there'll be any permanent damage to the heart muscle. We will keep him in for further observation and carry out a blood test and a chest x-ray."

C.C. nodded numbly, unable to respond or think of any questions she should be asking.

"Maxwell Sheffield is listed as his emergency contact. Could you get a hold of him?"

"Yes," she nodded and received yet another squeeze of her shoulder in return.

When the doctor had slipped behind the double doors again C.C. shakily rose to her feet and made her way to the nearest payphone. Maxwell sounded distracted when he picked up. "It's me," she simply said "Niles just had a heart attack."